The 2006 edition of the Euroglide had all aspects of a genuine gliding race.
The weather ranged from excellent to dry convection with a low base and days with developing thunderstorms
preventing pilots to make furhter progress that day and often also the next day.

Euroglide 2006, day 1. Click to enlarge.

On the seventh day of competition, a leading group of 15 teams arrived on Eindhoven, one glider, 7 turbos and 8 selflaunchers.
The second wave, two gliders, one turbo and one selflauncher, came in two days later on June 20th.
Finally, on day 12, two gliders, one turbo and two selflaunchers were the last to finish.
In total 24 out of the 40 teams were able to finish the race according to the rules (a record percentage).

The first 2 days the weather was not particularly easy. The third day was superb, except in the
Northern part of Germany. The unlucky of the first two days - therefore still in that region - were unlucky again.
The 4th day many teams that departed from the Swabische Alb (Aalen, Blueberen, Klippeneck) were able
to pass through Switserland and round Montricher although it was difficult to enter the Jure from the Black Forest.
Those that didn't round Montricher that day were hampered by thunderstorms in the Swiss region the following days.
Only by hard work and perseverance, some of those teams managed to finish the race according to the rules.
For example, glider EG had to realise a competition flight each day on 12 consecutive days
to make it back to Eindhoven on Friday June 23rd.

On the left, shortcuts to the Daily Reports from the Contest Director and to the Daily Position reports
from the
Daily Tracking site
and See You screendumps are available.

Initially 8E took the lead on a spectacular fashion.
Exploiting his abilities as a turbo he always launched very early.
The second day near Osnabruck, using his engine when needed, he initially flew 90 degress off track and headed for Neustadt as
soon as the weather was reliable.

Euroglide 2006, day 3. Click to enlarge.

At the time the other teams around Osnabruck took off, he already had a 100 km headstart.
Thus, after rounding Neustadt he was able to reach better conditions south of the Harz (higher terrain) at the end
of the afternoon and with his landing on the Wasserkuppe at the end of the day he had extended his lead bij 175 km.

The third day he struck again. After an early start and one thermal to 2100 m at the Wasserkuppe (900m) he picked
up his second
thermal after a glide of 70 km. That day he managed to fly 673 km by rounding Aalen, crossing Switserland,
rounding Montricher and land 30 km South of Dijon in France.
However, he was not the only one making his move that day. MD and NL flew 700 km - endstation Montricher - gaining
a bit on 8E.
Also, some made 600 km and many others 500 km, unless of course the departure was near Neustadt.
Thereafter, disaster struck for 8E. His car broke down and two days later he had to abandon the race.

On day 4, the conditions in France were poor, contrary to the conditions on the Alb, the Black Forrest and the Jure.
As a result, the teams that departed from the Swabische Alb were
able to gain considerably on the frontrunners 8E, NL and MD.
At the end of the day many assembled on Dijon Darois and on airfields a bit more south.
Expecting a weak cold front to pass from west to east, MD, XX and LSJ decided that is was time to use
their still vast amount of credit kilometers and moved to Orleans. The next day that payed off.
Teams near Dijon Darois were still in the frontal region with a cloudbase descending to 400 m above terrain.
None of them made any progress by competition flight. The three teams on Orleans managed to fly 100 km to Pont
sur Yonne. However, the day after (day 6), conditions were still poor north of Pont sur Yonne, whereas along the Loire,
the conditions were better. As a result the frontrunners where caught and chances for victory equal again.
Except for MD. Using his engine near Chalons Ecury, he found better conditions in northern France and
managed to reach Dahlemer Binz. Ready for the final jump!

Day 7 was a surprise. Expecting the same poor dry conditions as the day before, the air was much more humid
and the wind had changed 180 degrees. Cumulus at last!

Euroglide 2006, day 12, 13:00h. Click to enlarge.

All teams that departed from fields about 100 to 200 km north of Orleans made it to Eindhoven. After over development
and showers late afternoon in the Ardennes and the Eiffel, the air in Holland was dry and pretty stable.
Therefore, many had to use their engines on the last 50 km to EIndhoven.
And of course, MD finished first overall. LSJ and XX where the first in the turbo and the glider class.
The trailing group managed to reach the northern parts of France, moved to St Hubert and were not able to fly
the next day, but teams in France did make good progress.
On day 9 they all finished.

All teams that departed from Orleans on day 10 made it to Eindhoven two days later.
Also EG, but at the end of day 10, he landed on Orleans! The last day of competition (day 13),
all remaining teams but TU had abandoned the race. Unfortunately, located on Montargis, the
die hards did not find cross country conditions to bring them closer to Eindhoven.

Remarks
MA: Finished on June 18th. However, 3 competition flights during one flight on June 18th.
Therefore, smallest competition flight regarded as a displacement,
which resulted in exceeding the maximum credit by 75 km.
PLZ: Finished on June 19th. However, no engine running trace on 12, 14 and 16 June. 636 km reduction.
T10 and 7L damaged their gliders (undercarriege and wingtip) and were not able to start the second day. Both resumed competition on day 6 and departed from Belfort (T10, near Mulhouse)and Wasserkuppe (7L).
NJ had to abandon the race after an unfortunate landing on the first day.

Daily Tracking
Each evening, teams had to report their position to the Euroglide officials.
These daily reports are available on the
Euroglide daily tracking website.
SMS messages sent by participants were automatically published on this site as well.

Real Time Tracking
For the first time in Euroglides history, real time tracking was introduced.
Sponsored by
LX navigation
and
Avi Benelux
, 9 teams had been equiped with a LX navigation real time tracking device based on GPS and GPRS.
The objective of this pilot was to test the technology and gain experience with the GPRS connection on high altitudes.
The latest positions of the gliders were available on the internet with a 20 minute delay to cover the time a
glider might be too high for having a GPRS connection.
For these recorded tracks, navigate to the
LX navigation online tracking site

Itinerary
Starting at
Eindhoven
in the Netherlands and in counterclockwise mode (it was decided to fly in clockwise mode, so Neustadt-Glewe first), the first turning point is
Dahlemer Binz in the Eiffel (Germany).
A classic Euroglide leg to avoid the northern parts of Belgium.

Then to the south west through the Belgian Ardennes and the planes of France to
Orleans - St. Denis de l'Hotel.
Controlled airspace in France, north of Mulhouse/Basel blocks the passage from France into south east Germany.
Therefore, for the first time in history, Euroglide has a turnpoint in Switserland.
The turnpoint is
Montricher,
a gliding field north of Lake Geneva.

Then, heading northeast along the Jure and the famous Swabische Alb, to
Aalen - Heidenheim
in Germany. Between Basel and Zurich, there's a passage below Zurich TMA to Germany.
Next to the final turn point, the glider field
Neustadt Glewe,
located in the north east of Germany.
The last leg to the southwest concludes the itinerary to the finish on Eindhoven.

The distance totals to 2299 km. On the briefing it was announced that the the itinerary had
to be flown in clockwise mode, so Neustadt-Glewe first.

Equipment
In general the itinerary does not pass directly through controlled airspace or is easily to navigate around.
However, because of the ever increasing airspace restrictions it is very convenient,
and therefore recommended to have an RT-License.
On the long term (Euroglide 2008?)
carrying transponders might become inevitable.